Silver Wedding Anniversary Card

Another couple I know is celebrating their Silver Wedding Anniversary!

This is the third card I've made celebrating such a momentous occasion

the past several months, plus there was a 50th Anniversary

celebration I created the pop open box for last fall!

All supplies used were from Stampin' Up!

The raised, dry embossed areas were painted with a shimmery Pearlex paint.

Sentiment stamped with silver Encore ink.

2 5 die cut from silver metallic card stock,

the same type used for the card base.

How I made the tiny dimensional roses:

Punch a small scallop circle from lightweight paper.

Cut into a spiral.

Lightly soften the fibers by running a bone folder along it.

Twist it up around a pair of tweezers.

Glue into place on a small circle or flower punch base.

Gently smoosh it down with your thumb to make the petals curl back a bit.

Insert a tiny rhinestone in the centers.

Punch out  leaves and paint with shimmery paint. 

Attach all pieces with a strong glue.

This card requires extra postage due to the dimension.

Thanks for looking =) 

Welcome Home

Simple Red, White and Blue card

 I put together and mailed out

to a young second cousin of mine.

She served our country for five years.

There are two others still in the service and 

 another is considering signing up.

My father, grandfathers, most of my uncles,

several of my cousins (male and female)

have all served.

Thanks to everyone that has served or 

is currently serving and to their families! 

Color Challenge at OWH

The Midweek Throwdown at 

Operation Write Home is

a color challenge this week -

teal/turquoise!

Supplies form Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

Circle Card Thinlits die set ,

Dots and Daisies background stamp,

Bermuda Bay ink and card stock,

white Signo gel pen,

aquapainter,

yellow scrap flower punches,

yellow rhinestone (unknown)

scrap of shimmery white paper (underneath HI die cut)

TIP: Die cut the card before stamping the background.

Cut a mask from sticky notes to cover the circle portion .

Cover the circle with the sticky note mask then carefully stamp the 

background. If you use a large background stamp as I did,

it won't be large enough so you will need to line it up and stamp it

twice to cover the background. 

I colored the little outline flower images in

with ink and an aquapainter. 

To save time, consider cutting decorative papers

and adhere them over the card base OR

cut the card from decorative card stock.  

The above card was inspired by a sample I came across

somewhere, sorry I don't remember who to give credit

Bonus second card:

Hero Arts stamps

Thanks for looking =) 

Woodgrain Technique Cards

I created these cards for the Woodgrain Tutorial Reprise post

at Operation Write Home this week.

Supplies and tips for the Howdy card:

Bronc Buster stamp set, Stampin' Up!

Woodgrain Background stamp, Stampin' Up!

clear alphabet set, Technique Tuesday

Naturals card stock

Basic Brown ink, Stampin' Up!

Tea Stain, Weathered Wood and Linen distress inks

wide jute ribbon (craft supply)

sandpaper, acrylic paint and Folk Star punch

blade of scissors scraped along the edge of the 

card stock to distress it 

ink rubbed along the distressed edges

TIP: I don't know how many people really pay attention

to the detail of punched sandpaper painted to

replicate an old rusty barn star, but I love to add that touch.

The texture of the sandpaper is perfect for the rusty metal !

Don't forget to pinch in the points to give it dimension.

Stamp the background stamp with a permanent ink

then smear distress inks over it,

slightly dampening the card stock to make the inks smear.

This card is supposed to resemble a framed piece of art

hanging on a wall.

I shared a post a couple of years ago about how I make these frames.

They do take some time and patience.

Basically you drag ink pads across card stock,

speckle it with a darker ink

then lightly gouge the card stock with blunt tip scissors.

Cut it into strips of equal width.

Cut miter corners then piece them back 

together to create the frame. 

My sample above uses Creamy Caramel card stock

and ink as well as Soft Suede and Going Gray inks

for dragging. Chocolate Chip ink  for speckles.

The stamp image from 

Thoughts of Father by Stampin'  Up! 

is water colored with classic inks and

and aquapainter.

The Old Olive background piece

was stamped with an old Paisley background stamp

from Stampin' Up! and Olive ink. 

Thanks for looking  =) 

You Make My Heart Race Card

I created this card using the sketch challenge at

Operation Write Home today, #213.

It is another kind of goofy card

to add to the cards I'll be donating

to OWH at some point.

I've been making a lot of those lately it seems.

The digital stamp/word art was created by myself using

the new My Memories Suite V5 software.

It has new clear background and export as PNG features ! 

You can do the same thing using

 Photoshop/Photoshop Elements.

To make this word art, 

all I did was create four different

text boxes and used four different

fonts / sizes for the words.

I should have searched online for a

more race car / fast looking font, I think.

I moved them around

and adjusted the sizes 

until I liked the look. 

I exported it as a PNG from the MMSV5 software

I'd like to spend more time learning how to

create word arts/digital stamps.

 It's another one of those

"If I had more time in the day...." projects.

The other images are stamp images that were available from Stampin' Up!, a couple of them are quite
old and no longer available (Tire Tracks wheel, Bold Check Frame). The car (Need For Speed) is the closest I have to a race car image. It was colored with a Real Red marker from Stampin' Up!  I need to add Crystal Effects to the headlights.

The heart was die cut from a scrap of red fleece material that was sitting on my work table using an old Movers and Shapers die from Stampin' Up! . I thought it would be fun to use something different than card stock. Also a kind of "Thoughts of you warm my heart" touch - oh, that's a good idea for another card like this actually ! Maybe if I do make that one, I'll dig out some scraps of paper for the strips rather than make my own from stamped images.


Thanks for looking =)

Firefly Shaker Card

"You Light Up My Life"

card created for the 

Midweek Throwdown at

Operation Write Home.

I also used one of their sketches, # 2

I originally made this little firefly to use on 

the I Love You S'more card I shared recently,

but decided against it so I 

made this card with the little bug. 

The papers are from an old 

Die Cuts With A View Spring paper stack

Also black card stock, metallic silver card stock and acetate.

Polka dot ribbon, unknown

and attached with hot glue.

Yellow acrylic craft paint sponged onto the

black card stock to create

the look of a lightning bugs glow in a

jar at night.....not quite as I had envisioned though.

Paper piercer and mat 

 "Shaker" part of the card for the bug in the jar

Stamp jar on front piece of card stock and cut out center.

Stamp on piece of acetate with Stazon ink, apply double stick tape

to both sides. It will be sandwiched between the 

black card stock front piece and card board.

(omit double stick tape on one side if you are using

a double stick foam tape)

Stamp and cut out center of jar from thin cardboard ,

this is to make the depth for your shaker.

OR

use a thick double stick foam mounting tape

adhered around the edge of the jar opening.

I don't have any so I used an old light bulb box.

Sponge paint on inside piece of card stock that

the bug will rest on. This creates the "glow";

you may have other mediums you'd prefer to use.

Note: the corner of my piece is missing because it was

a scrap I used, the corner won't show anyway.

Firefly made from Word Window, Heart (trimmed the point off of it)

and Circle punch, all were from Stampin' Up!

Two googlie eyes

Glitter GLUE, not loose glitter

Black and yellow card stock

The wings were punched from, of all things,

a piece of black "gel pen" book cover paper

leftover from my kids' elementary school days !

Thanks for looking =) 

Love You S'More Card

This weeks Midweek Throwdown Challenge at Operation Write Home :
Let Your Light Shine !   Go take a look at all the inspiring creations, there are InLinkz at the bottom of the post that have thumbnails of each card.




I had all sorts of ideas, but in the end I decided to make this card. It sort of works for the recent Punny Challenge, too (scroll down to see sentiment I stamped inside card) !

The light on my card:
starlight
light of the campfire
the childrens faces lit up with big grins

I Love You 

S'More Each Day ! 

 Campout stamp images and small scattered stars

background stamp are from Stampin' Up!

Snap Stamps for sentiments

Basic Black, Whisper White, Glossy White card stocks

Markers and inks, all from Stampin' Up!

sponge, masks, eyelet

Here is how I made the stamped /sponged image:

I started with a piece of white glossy card stock.

I stamped the images with permanent black ink.

This was a bit tricky since the girl and boy

are on a single stamp and are really close to one another, 

the campfire on a different stamp

I stamped the fire first then very carefully inked 

just the girl, stamping her off to one side.

I cleaned the stamp really well,

carefully inked the boy image

then stamped him off to the other side.

He is a bit closer to the fire, not intentionally.

I almost scrapped this piece and started again

because I didn't like him that close then thought

"You know, if it were real life a little boy

probably would be closer to a fire...."

though not THAT close !

I colored them in with markers from Stampin' Up!

and used a blender pen on the fire.

White crayon on the marshmallow and socks

to help resist ink when I was sponging. 

These are the masks I made to cover the colored in images

while sponging on ink.

Removable sticky notes are the best paper for this.

I tore a piece of scrap paper then laid it over my masked images.

I then sponged on a couple colors of brown ink to create the ground.

I removed the torn paper mask from the ground 

and carefully sponged on yellow and dark gray inks

to simulate a bonfire in the evening.

I really would have liked a black ink,

but I don't have a good, true BLACK ink.

The black ink I have always comes out dark purple looking. 

This was a dark gray ink, but it sponged on much lighter than I 

expected it to. Oh well...................

Closeup of the cute campers

making s'mores image .

These stamps are from an old set by Stampin' Up!,

Campout.

It is the first time I ever used it, gasp !!!!!!!

One of the two Snap Stamps sets I bought 

a long, long time ago.

Whenever I pull them out to use them,

I wonder why I didn't try to find more styles and sizes of them.

They are individual letters that you snap together

to form words to your liking, fun ! 

This is what I stamped on the inside of the card 

and made the banner sentiment with on the outside.

Goofy, I know.

I used a black fine point ink pen to add an

apostrophe between the S and M

after I stamped it on the inside of the card.

This was going to be a firefly embellishment on the card.

In the end I decided he was a bit too big -

and a bit too much -

for this particular card.

I have a stamp set with a jar in it,

I'll probably use it to put him in it

and add a "You Light Up My Life" sentiment. 

It was made with half of a Word Window Punch ,

 a trimmed off heart punch and small circle punch, from Stampin' Up!

The gold glitter is a glitter glue and it will be adhered behind

acetate when I use it on a card so it will be safe to send

to Operation Write Home (no glitter on cards !). 

Thanks for looking =) 

Free Digital Kits

Available through February 23rd only , get them before they are no longer free !

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_1

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_2

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_3

Love Squared Cards

I donated this set of cards to Operation Write Home.

The stamp images, inks, papers, square die and stripes embossing folder were all from Stampin' Up! though many of them are now no longer available.


Thanks for looking =)

OWH Sketch Challenge 212

http://operationwritehome.org/sketch-challenge-212/

My takes on this weeks sketch challenge at

Operation Write Home.

They don't follow the sketch exactly.

Click the link above to see many more

inspiring card samples.

I thought making a ribbon run through the card stock

rather than bitty banners on the front

would be a fun take on the sketch for the above card.

Finishing Flourishes stamp set, My Favorite Things

Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze card stocks - Stampin' Up!

Brown with white back card stock, Lasting Impressions

Early Espresso ink, Stampin' Up!

sponge for inking edges

5/8" chocolate grosgrain ribbon

ruler, straight edge and Xacto knife

Image Tree Swanky Upper stamp set

unknown clear alpha for "birthday"

Seasonal Solids stamps, Stampin' Up!

assorted inks, Stampin' Up!

Whisper White, Summer Sun card stocks, Stampin' Up!

textured bright blue cardstock, unknown

black Sharpie marker

paper crimper (I don't know the last time I used that!)

scrap paper to make masks for stamping over the balloons,

making it look like some are in front of others

Thanks for looking =)

Letter Pressed Love Cards

My first attempts at "letter press" cards.

The gold one was pressed onto a thicker hand made paper

so it worked pretty well.

The red one uses basic white card stock 

so there is not much depth to the pressed portion.

These were made last fall and donated to 

Operation Write Home.

Thanks for looking =) 

Digital Kit - Count Your Blessings

The newest digital kit from 

Loni at Grace Blossoms 4 You !

Count Your Blessings

Here are my Creative Team projects this month:

This is a greeting card front.

I can easily change out the sentiment

(my own text in a text box , this is not in the kit)

to something else since it is done

digitally and I have the files saved. 

I created this page with 8 (or more) papers

for a challenge at Scraps-N-Pieces.com. 

This was supposed to resemble a baby's quilt since I

was scrapping some old photos of the nursery set

I made many years ago.

It was my first attempt at quilting. 

If you like digital content for digiscrapping,

hybrid projects, etc be sure to check out the 

blog hop this weekend at

 Scraps-N-Pieces.com !

There are lots of pieces many designers

have created for free , 

perfect for use with Project 52 

Love You Much Cards

I totally forgot to share the "love" cards I made and donated to Operation Write Home last fall !
Here is another set I had fun putting together for some of our heroes to write home on.

The stamp image is from Stampin' Up!, long ago retired and I believe it is called Love You Much.

I added a tiny punched butterfly (Martha Stewart) and flower (Flower Trio punch, retired from Stampin' Up!) with a rhinestone center for extra impact on the water colored image.

Hand doodled edge.

Cuttlebug embossing folder.

Do any of you remember when these fun fibers were all the rage in crafting ? Do any of you still have a hoard of them like I do ? I'm afraid to admit that I probably have more than I will ever use since I bought numerous skeins of the stuff ! I think I should learn how to knit or crochet to use it for other projects ........

Thanks for looking =)

You Send Me Soaring Cards

A couple more cards I made and donated to 

Operation Write Home last fall.

I remember that the basic design came from

a card I saw somewhere that used a different stamp set,

unfortunately several months later

I do not recall exactly where the inspiration

came from. It may very well have been

a sample in the Stampin' Up! catalog.

Each are done a bit differently:

One card uses a blue card stock with hand cut clouds

adhered to the top. 

Thee other card uses the crayon resist technique.

I stamped the clouds onto white glossy card stock 

then colored them in with white crayons. 

I then brayered the blue ink over them.

The white crayon resists the ink.

Gently wipe the ink and crayon off

of the glossy card stock. 

Send Me Soaring stamp set and 

Clouds embossing folder are both retired

from Stampin' Up! 

Thanks for looking =) 

"Olive" You Card

I hadn't posted this card to the blog yet.

It fits this weeks Midweek Throwdown Challenge

at Operation Write Home perfectly :

Punny Cards!

This particular card was bits and pieces of an incomplete card front

that was in the stamp box I found at a yard sale.

I put it together and sent it to

Operation Write Home in the box of cards I mailed last fall.

Thanks for looking =) 

Pretty Princess Cards

Stampin' Up! images, inks, papers and punches.
The images are colored with ink pads and an aqua painter.
I left them blank on the inside so they could be used for any occasion.
These cards were donated to Operation Write Home.

Thanks for looking =)

"Wheelie" Great Birthday Card

A fun spinner card to wish someone a "wheelie" great birthday !

This card was created using sketch challenge #211 from Operation Write Home.

Tire and wheel created with paper punches:

Scallop circle with the scallops trimmed off using scissors to create the tire.

Circle punch of silver card stock for wheel center.

Rubber stamped greeting heat embossed with white embossing powder (Think Happy Thoughts, retired from Stampin' Up!) to simulate raised white letters on some brands of tires.

Create two of these then adhere them back to back with

fishing line between them to mount it in the opening. Attach the ends of the fishing line between the card front and diamond plated card stock strip.

Circle Nestabilities die to cut opening in card stock strip and card front.

Darice Embossing Essentials Diamond Plate on silver metallic card stock.

Thin strips of red card stock

Naturals ivory card stock

Highways and Byways (retired) stamp set, Stampin' Up!

Basic Gray ink

TIPS: Stamp the circular greeting for the tire before punching out. Hold the paper punch upside down so you can see the greeting, centering it before punching out. Thin metal style dies work well for this, too.

Cut out the circles for the card front and card stock strip at the same time if your cutting tool can accommodate both layers. Use a little bit of double stick tape between the two layers in the area that will be cut out.

Dry emboss the card stock strip after cutting out the circle.

Instructions for a similar type card using heart dies:
http://craftysahmiam.blogspot.com/2012/02/suspendedspinning-heart-card.html

Thanks for looking =)